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563 




Class 






PKESENTED SY 



A- 



TO CHURCHMEN 



The following Memorial is reported to have been laid before the 
" General Council " of the Bishops, Clergy and Laity, of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church in "The Confederate States of America," 
held in St. Paul's Church, Augusta, Georgia, November 22d, 1862. 
It is understood to have been referred to a Select Committee, (of 
which that truly apostolic man. Bishop General Polk is Chairman,) 
with instructions so to revise the Prayer Book as to free it from all 
traces of Abolitionism, and also to consider and report on the expe- 
diency of a corrected Southern version of the Old and New Testa- 
ments — especially the latter. 

This proposed Revision of the Prayer Book is of great and obvi- 
ous interest to Churchmen, North as well as South. For when our 
present political misimderstandings shall have been arranged by judi- 
cious concession under the guidance of wise and patriotic statesmen 
like Mr, Fernando Wood, Mr. James Brooks, and the Honorable 
Mr. Toucey, of Connecticut, the great question will still remain to 
be solved. How shall we restore the unity of the Church, now alas! 
divided ? The first step toward this blessed result will obviously be 
the prompt and cheerful adoption of such changes and improvements 
in the Ritual. and Order of the Church as our Southern brethren 
may think expedient. We should begin to familiarize ourselves 
with the alterations they are said to contemplate, and thus learn 
to approve, and at last to love, the Prayer Book as conformed to 
Southern institutions. 

For the peace of Jerusalem, Northern Churchmen will surely 
consider without passion or prejudice any trifling changes in the 
Liturgy which their Southern brethren may desire. They will 
especially strive to free themselves from any unreasonable bias 
growing out of a mere popular clamor against " Treason," " Rebel- 
lion," and " Schism." St. Ambrose says, " Hmnanmn est errare^'' 
and St. Clement of Alexandria declares very forcibly, that '''' Com- 
munis populus est sicut asinus x^rcesertim hi Rebus Politicis et Eccle- 



J^.^^V't^A^-*^J^>-^i 




2 
♦ I 

siasticis.^'' Hence Churchmen will consider the very prevalence and 
general currency of these loos^ charges as at least presumptive evi- 
dence that they are unfounded. It is obvious, moreover, that per- 
sons of respectability, (to say nothing of High Tone and Chivalric Im- 
pulses, sanctified by the soundest church principles,) could never have 
incurred the guilt of schism, treason and rebellion, except under the 
pressure of irresistible provocation, or for some other satisfactory 
reason. Faith and charity would oblige us to assume the existence 
of such sufficient provocation, even were it undiscoverable by mere 
unaided human intellect. But it is in truth painfully apparent that 
THE South would never have seceded but for the existence of 
THE Northern States. 

None but a fanatical abolitionist will dare to deny this great fact. 
Surely, therefore, we have been to blame, and should be ready, with 
all diligence, to humble ourselves before those we have thus offended, 
striving to out-do them only in the fruits of charity and lowliness of 
spirit, and holding ourselves always ready to concede whatever they 
ask of us, for the sake, of Peace, Concord, and Christian Unity. 

We should bear in mind, also, that when Mr. Brooks and Mr. 
Wood shall have re-established the Union by inviting our Southern 
brethren to bring their colored boys and girls to New York and 
Boston under the guaranty of Noi'thera laws, we shall find these 
calumniated but truly generous men abounding in magnanimity. 
Though they will, of course, expect and require our Prayer Book to 
be corrected in conformity with theirs whenever its services are ad- 
ministered to any of their. " people," they will doubtless permit us to 
, retain it with but little change, for use in our own churches and 
among j^ersons of unquestionable Caucasian descent. ' It will only 
be necessary that we have two Prayer Books, which may be desig- 
nated respectively as Black and White, or as the " Liturgy of Light," 
and the " Liturgy of Darkness," a concession so trifling that no 
Churchman or Patriot can hesitate over it for a single instant. The 
mulatto race are not yet sufficiently powerful to maintain their right 
to a third, or Yellow Prayer Book, but their rapid increase and 
multiplication in the sunny homesteads of Alabama and the Caro- 
linas may yet render a "Yellow-covered Liturgy" indispensable. 

Mead-quarters of the Society for 

the diffusion of Political KnoxoUdge^ 

Delmonico's, Feb. 14, 1863. 



ci 



MEMOlilAL 

. To the General Council of the Protestant E^yiscopal Church in 
the Confederate States of America : 

Right Reverend and Reverend Fathers and Brethren : — 
We pray leave to address you on a subject of the profoundest inter- 
est to onr beloved Church. 

The inscrutable decrees of Providence have committed to us the 
charge in things spiritual, as well as temporal, of the colored 
biped mammalia, now several millions in number, who are domiciled 
among us. You know with what pious vigilance and devout lidelity 
our Zion has cherished and protected these black and yellow lambs 
of the flock, striving ever to keep them from going astray, and to 
make them daily more abundant in good works. We have indeed 
labored without ceasing, and not wholly in vain, to make those thus 
entrusted to our Christian rule, good and faithful servants ; sparing 
no means that could promote this our godly endeavor. To keep 
them unspotted from an unbelieving world, we have denied ourselves 
the happiness of sharing Avith them our stores of profane knowledge, 
and have made it a felony to teach them to read. That they might 
not be hindered in running the race that is set before them, we have 
forbidden them to cumber themselves with worldly goods, and to 
retain even the fruits of their daily labor, and we have ourselves 
borne the added burden without complaining. The task of morti- 
fying the flesh and bringing it into subjection, which even the great 
Apostle of the Gentiles was compelled to perform for himself, we 
have taken ofi" their hands and performed for them. That they 
might learn not to set their hearts on things of this world (which 
passeth away like a shadow), we have ordained that their domestic 
ties should be transient, and that they, with or witliout their wives 
and children, be kept in free circulation as the basis of trade. And 
we have labored generally, in the spirit of Christian love, to assimi- 
late them to that order of created beings which is commended in 
Holy Writ as superior even to the favored people of old, for that 
" it knoweth its master." 

And thus we may say, without boasting, that the Christian graces 
of humility, long-suflering, and subnussion to wrong (so difficult of 
attainment), are nowhere manifested on a larger scale than by this 



generation, though by nature stiff-necked and untractable. And it 
is indeed a blessed thought that these biped millions, who might at 
this day have been herding with their families around them, in con- 
tented degradation, 

" Where Afric's sunny fountains 
Roll down their golden sands," * 

and bowing down before Mumbo-Jumbo, or Baal, or that hideous 
idol, Boo-Ghoo-Boo, now sit where the light of Evangelical truth 
and Apostolic order shines on those who own them, and where they 
are daily taught that all help in adversity comes from God alone, and 
not from man. 

But to make the system of the Church more self-consistent and 
harmonious, and to adapt her ministrations to these tender lambs of 
her flock and to Southern Churchmen, we hold certain changes in 
her liturgy and discipline to be indispensable. 

Our attention to this subject was first awakened in 1856 by the in- 
troduction, (during a session of the general convention of the old 
" Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America," from 
which unclean and infidel body we have seceded,) of a " Canon," 
absurdly mis-called " of Discipline," so ignorantly and mischievously 
framed (we would fain believe mthout actual malignity of purpose), 
that, under its proposed provisions, a dozen or more mulatto (not 
to say negro) communicants, if unfortunately eye-witnesses of the 
commission of a crime by a deacon or presbyter, might actually have 
been admitted to testify to the fact, and thus to subvert the whole 
social and political fabric of Virginia or South Carolina: Though 
this insane and unchristian novelty (which disturbed our peace) was 
promptly rejected by a unanimous Southern vote, the mere fact that 
it was put forward filled us with gloomy forebodings, and entitled us 
to demand of the Church securities for the future, and such changes 
in her Ritual and Order as should suit both to Southern institutions. 
Can it be doubted that communicants not credible under oath re- 
quire a special Liturgy ? 

It is to be observed that the whole Prayer Book is intended for 
homogeneous congregations of responsible beings capable of forming 
domestic ties and enjoying personal rights. It is, therefore, as a 
whole, unfit for congregations where the front pews own the free sit- 
tings — assemblages composed in varying proportions of two classes 
of Christians, one of which bought'the other yesterday and may sell 
it to-morrow. 

* Wm. Gllmore Sims. 



But waiving this for the present, certain prominent details require 
immediate change. 

For example, the promise and vow of the marriage service : " I, 
M., do take thee, N,, to be my wedded husband, to have and to 
hold '^ * till death doth us part," is a mockery when uttered by 
one of this beloved but subordinated race. We cannot bear thus to 
put uin-oal w/)rds into the mouths of tliose so dear to us. It should 
be amended to read : " till death, or my owner, his executors, ad- 
ministrators, or assigns, do us part." So, too, the demand : " Wilt 

thou, , keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live ?" 

and the answer, "I will," should be improved by adding to the 
words " I will," some form 'of 2^^'otestando, reserving the legal rights 
of the owner, present or future, of either party, with which the voice 
of the Church expressed in the service seems to conflict. This appa- 
rent conflict is still more painfully conspicuous when the ofticiating 
clergyman is required to say: "Those whom God hath joined to- 
gether, let no man put asundery Volumes of fanaticism and unbe- 
lief are latent in these few words. If the officiating clergyman 
himself own either the bride or bridegroom, this declaration may be 
considered' (most unreasonably, but still with some plausibility,) as in 
some sense estopping him from any future exercise of his rights as a 
Christian and a patriarch, even at considerable pecuniary loss. In 
every case he is thus made the mouthpiece of a revolutionary doc- 
trine that blasphemes the rights of property, and distinctly implies 
the existence of that Anti-Christian fiction, a " Higher Law." Such 
profane utterances may suit the atmosphere of other communities, 
rank Avith Fourierisms and Freeloveisms, and every social corrup- 
tion. But no Church that openly proclaims them can flourish within 
our borders. 

Another remedy is submitted, which may allow of bur leaving this 
service (so touching and beautiful when used in its proper place,) 
unchanged for the present. Since the Church hath inherent power 
to loose as well as to bind, your Honorable Body may, in its wisdom, 
create and establish a fourth subordinate order of the Ministry, spe- 
cially to exercise the function of loosing, and to administer the Rite 
of Divorce from time to time, with due solemnity, to colored couples 
who have been married in the usual form. This fourth order miofht 
be styled that of sub-De»con, Acolyte, Exorcist, Hastiarius, or 
simply Auctioneer. Any person experienced m the duties of that 
useful calling, and " apt and meet for his smartness and godly conver- 



sation to exercise that ministry duly for the edifying of the 
Church," might be ordained by the Bishop for this particular office, 
to which other mmor duties might judiciously be added. For these, 
useful hints may lawfully be borrowed from another and ancient 
branch of the Church; and we refer to the "Discipline of the Order 
of Flagellants" {Disciplina et JRegula Ordinis Flagellantium^ 4^o., 
Romce, 156 V), as embodying practical suggestions of much value. A 
suitable "Form of ordaining Auctioneers" to administer the blessed 
sacrament of divorce should stand in the Prayer-book immediately 
after that for ordaining Deacons. A tasteful symbolism would dic- 
tate the presentation of a hammer to the candidate by the Bishop (as 
the New Testament is delivered to the newly ordained Deacon), 
with the solemn words, "Take thou authority to divorce colored per- 
sons in the Church at public or private sale, for cash or on credit, and 
also to knock them down if thou be thereto licensed by the Bishop 
himself." There should be also an ajipropriate and very brief ser- 
vice introductory to such sales, concluding with a suitable exhorta- 
tion to the parties. 

The rite of Confirmation, or laying on of hands, also needs regula- 
tion. For the avoiding of scandal, persons ot the African denomina- 
tion must be sternly repelled from that ordinance. The peace of 
Jerusalem may be disturbed if Episcopal hands are still to be brought 
into physical contact with the heads of these dear children of the 
Church, except in the way of paternal chastisement. Whatever 
benefit these black but precious vessels may derive from Confirma- 
tion would be far outweighed by the damage the Church would sus- 
tain if a chivalric and impulsive public should visit one of her chief 
ministers with the indignity of tar and feathers for demeaning himself 
to adminster it. 

The Litany too, contains phrases that tend to mischief — the pray- 
ers, for instance, to be delivered "from hardness of heart and con- 
tempt of Thy Word and commandments," and that " all Christian 
rulers and magistrates may have grace to execute justice and main- 
tain truth." Properly understood, these are, of course, prayers that 
we may not fall into the delusion of imagining ourselves bound to 
mitigate the severity and brutality (falsely so called) of our eminent- 
ly humane and evangelical " Slave Code," and that the civil author- 
ity may be strengthened to maintain and develop it to the end of 
time. But these supplications have been known to stir up distressing 



doubts and misgivings in diseased and over sensitive consciences. 
The prayer for "all who are desolate and oppressed" is so manifestly 
liable to perilous misconstruction that its use can no longer be tolera- 
ted. 

The service for the burial of the dead needs comparatively little 
change to adapt it to Southern institutions. But hi the passage "For- 
asmuch as it has pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, to 
take out of the world the soul of our deceased brother,'''' &c., the last 
quoted three words are unmeaning, offensive to our instincts, and in 
conflict Avith the great fundamental ideas of our social system. "This 
deceased biped," or "this defunct individual black man," or words 
to that effect, should be substituted. In the solemn offices of religion, 
aught unreal should be studiously avoided. 

There are radical defects in the "Prayer for a sick person," and 
the " Office for the visitation of the sick." Both are inapplicable to 
the case of sickness occurring among these colored objects of our 
love. Both assume that the patient, and not the proprietor of the 
patient, is the person chiefly interested in the patient's recovery. 
The Church's intercession is for the former alone. She turns coldly 
away from the sorrow and trial of the ownci", without a single prayer 
ithat he be spared the loss or enabled to bear it with resignation — 
though it may reduce him from the estate of a gentleman, and com- 
pel him to labor for his own subsistence. Should this be so ? 

Fearing to weary you by pointing out specifically all the additions 
and changes which the Prayer Book requires, we pause here, only 
hinting at a few further questions too important to be overlooked. 

Should not provision be made in cases where a parish church needs 
repair or enlargement, for raising the necessary funds by the sale of 
a sufficient number of colored communicants ? , 

Should not the want (at present so deeply felt,) of Collects against 
Peace, for Dis-unity, and. against the inroads of education and intelli- 
gence be at once supplied ? 

In view of the present distressing depreciation in the market-value 
of colored Christians, would it not be well to make the petition in 
the Litany, that the Almighty would be pleased " to raise up those 
who fall," less Unequivocal and more intensely eai*nest ? 

Can the present mode of collecting alms at the Offertory be so 
improved as to enable charitable Christians, anxious to give abun- 



8 

dant alms of their substance, but temporarily deficient in the circu- 
lating medium, to slip a colored person or persons into the alms-dish, 
without noise and confusion '? 

Is there not reason to believe that the verse of the Te Deum which 
is now commonly printed, " We therefore pray Thee, help Thy 
servants,^'' has been corrupted by ISTorthern abolitionists ? It certain- 
ly seems offensive and wrong. ' We recommend that in our revised 
Liturgy the word "servants" be stricken out, and "masters" or 
" owners " substituted in its place. 

Should not a Commination service, like that of the Anglican Church, 
or a form of Cursing and Excommunication, like the austere but beau- 
tiful composition attributed to Ernulphus, be introduced into the 
Prayer Book, for the warning and intimidation of black Christians 
who may be tempted by Satan to think of unlawful emigration to- 
wards the ungenial regions of the North ? . 

In view of the vast distinction between ourselves and the class in 
question, from which we have abstracted all the attributes of hu- 
manity which can be affected by human legislation, is it not meet and 
right that a change be made in our Communion Service? The 
Roman Church administers that sacrament to the laity in one 
kind only. Would it not be more consistent with the true spii-it of' 
our branch of the Church Catholic to administer the same to colored 
communicants in neither kmd only ? 

We submit these grave points for your deliberation, and ask for 
such prompt action upon them as may vindicate the rights of South- 
ern gentlemen and Churchmen. 

And your memorialists will ever pray, &c. 
Montgomery, Geo., Nov. 22, 1862. 



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